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Monday, January 21, 2013

Amanuensis Monday: Fielding Jollett in Chancery Court

Amanuensis Monday
is a daily prompt at Geneabloggers which encourages the family historian to
transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical
artifacts.

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

I often wonder why my great aunts Violetta and Velma quit
tracing the Jollett family. After all,
they thought there was nothing on earth quite so interesting as their Jollett
relatives and ancestors. They had even
hired a professional genealogist to do some of the research. Perhaps it became expensive. Or perhaps the frustration of turning up so
few documents made them give up. My
family’s theory is that they uncovered something they didn’t want anyone to
know.

The truth is we have our fair share of unsavory
characters and events that might have appalled refined ladies like my
aunts. Being sued for payment of debt is
nothing.

So it seems my 3G grandfather Fielding Jollett of Page
County, Virginia ran into some financial trouble, perhaps buying on credit from
local merchants and certainly borrowing money from some fairly wealthy farmers.
Failure to make good on the loans
resulted in two lawsuits, at least one of which dragged on for almost twenty
years.

Your complainants James W. Good, and Reuben M. Walton,
late partners in trade under the name and style of Good & Walton, George
Summers and George W. Shuler respectfully shew that Fielding Jollett owned and
possessed a lot of land situate in the county of Page containing about three
hundred acres, more or less, which he purchased of Geo. Conrad and Susan his
wife on the 9th day of March 1849 for the sum of one dollar in hand
paid as will be seen by reference to an office copy of said deed from Geo.
Conrad and Susan his wife to said Fielding Jollett, filed herewith marked Exhibit
(A) and prayed to be taken as part of this bill.

Your complainants also shew that the said Good &
Walton, partners as above stated, suing in the style of Good & Walton recovered
a Judgment against the said Fielding Jollett before a Justice of the peace for
the sum of $43.79 Inst from 26th Nov 1857 till paid, and 30 cents
costs, as will be seen by reference to an office copy of said Judgment which
was docketed in the County Clerk’s office of Page Co. 20th Nov 1860
and a copy of which is filed herewith marked Exhibit (B), and prayed to be
taken as part of this bill.

Also say that the said Good & Walton, as aforesaid,
recovered a Judgment rendered by a Justice of the peace against F. Jollett for
the sum of $30.77 Inst till paid and 30 cents costs, which said Judgment was
docketed in the County Clerk’s office of Page Co, 24th April 1860,
all of which will be seen by reference to an office copy of said Judgment filed
herewith marked Exhibit (C), and prayed to be taken as part of this bill.

Also say that the said Geo. Summers recovered a Judgment
rendered by a Justice of the peace against the said F. Jollett for $40.16 inst
from 19 Oct 1859 till paid and 30 cents costs which said Judgment was docketed
in the County Clerk’s office of Page Co. May 10th 1860 all of which
will be seen by reference to an office copy of said Judgment filed herewith
marked Exhibit (D), and prayed to be taken as part of this bill.

Your complainants also say that Geo. W. Shuler recovered
a Judgment rendered by a Justice of the peace against said deft for the sum of
$50 Inst from 31st Jan 1859 till paid which said Judgment was
docketed in the County Clerk’s office of Page Co. May 10th 1860 all
of which will be seen by reference to an office copy of said Judgment filed
herewith marked Exhibit (E), and prayed to be taken as part of this bill.

Your complainants say that the defendant has no personal
property out of which the said sums of recovery recovered in said Judgments can
be [???]. Your complainants therefore
pray that Fielding Jollett who is the defendant in this bill may answer this
bill on oath and that the court will decree or a sale or renting of so much of
the real estate of said defendant as will satisfy the debts of said
complainants and that a court may be appointed for this purpose and all other &
further relief appriate in the premises, and they will ever pray.

P.
B. Borst, p. q.

How did Fielding get himself into such a mess? Did he have dreams of becoming a wealthy
farmer but then just got in over his head? Was he a poor manager of money? Was he an inept farmer? Was he merely pathetic or was he a dirty rotten
scoundrel intentionally skirting the law?
I hope to come to some conclusions through a series of posts examining
the documents in two Chancery Causes.

(NOTE: Chancery Causes for Page County, Virginia are
among the Virginia Memory Digital Collections at the Library of Virginia.)

Surely your Great Aunts would have known people that could remember dear old Fielding - he was their Great Granddaddy - Grandma Jollett must have known her Father-in-Law and passed on the tale. Or, was his deeds so bad???

Aren't court documents interesting and enlightening Wendy? Unfortnately, they can be a little too enlightening I'm afraid. I received the divorce case file for my great-grandfather and his first wife, who was seeking a divorce from him. I wonder how he'd feel knowing his descendants were reading about his marriage troubles years later.

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About Me

My name is Wendy. About twenty years ago, I helped my mother research the Jolletts. Since retiring from teaching, I have expanded my research which I share here. When I’m not looking for my own family, I index for FamilySearch and the Greene County Historical Society.
Welcome to Jollett Etc. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here. If you have more information or believe we are related, EMAIL ME at wendymath at cox dot net